Tears of the Tropical Fish
by KawaiiTenshiCeres
Summary: "Until the day where my tears change into strength, I'll keep on walking without crying..." Okimoto Asahi is known to be a "genius" in the Iwatobi Art Club...except, with her obsession with the ocean, she can only draw sea creatures. When everything goes down the drain for her, she looks to find a new muse, which happens to be a boy from the Swim Team. OC x ?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I wrote this after wanting to do a Free! fanfiction for a very long time! However, problem is, I do adore Makoto, Rei, and Haru. So, I'm pretty indecisive on how will this turn out. So I made this a pretty open pairing. c:

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres, does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto __Asahi._

* * *

><p>熱帯魚の涙 <strong><em> Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
>Chapter One<em>**

* * *

><p><em>Summer is...coming...Summer is...<em>

Eyes closed, feet planted on the cement ground near the boats on the pier. Long, bleached, strawberry blond hair blew in the wind as music blasted into the teenage girl's ears. Amber-colored eyes stared at the ocean with a sad, reminiscent look. It was late Spring. The weather in this place was a lot different from her hometown of Hiroshima. It felt colder, yet it was a lot more quiet and peaceful here. It was...relaxing.

"_Oneechan~!_" a young boy shouted from afar. "Come on, Grandma is waitin' for us!" he said, waving his arm up in the air.

Pulling the white earbud from her ear, the blond turned to her younger brother as a bright smile formed on her face. "Coming, Taiyou!" she replied, pulling out a pair of glasses from her shorts pocket and putting it on her face.

"_Eh... You're not wearing contacts again?_" "_Ha. I got lazy to put them on!_" "_Oneechan, you're always lazy!_"

Although the two of them had come here a few weeks after school started, it was difficult to adjust to the quiet town compared to bustling city streets that they lived in. They were used to the bright city lights at night, constant sound of vehicles passing by them, and the humid weather of Hiroshima. Although they took the train to the city in this area, it wasn't so jammed pack and filled with so many people like they were used to. However, for this sixteen year old, going here felt like she was starting fresh and new. Everything from Hiroshima..._stayed_ in Hiroshima.

"Oi, Oneechan..._Oneechaaaaaan,_" the dark-haired boy said, waving a hand in front of his sister's face. "You're daydreamin' again," he huffed.

"Eh?" she questioned. "N-No, I'm not!" she stuttered, before looking down with a thoughtful look on her face, while her brother kept talking to her about his day.

_Summer is...coming... Summer is..._

* * *

><p>"Eh? That's from the Art Club?!" "Uwa, so cool!" "It's a lot different from last year that's for sure!"<p>

It was lunchtime. People hovered around the posters hung up advertising for the Art Club. It was a watercolor of various sea creatures, with the sign 'JOIN THE ART CLUB!' over it. Nearby the blond girl stood there in front of the windows with a few of the second years girls, as they were casually munching on their snacks and loafing around there.

"Ooh, people like what you did, Asahi-chan!" a girl with long black hair grinned, nudging her.

Okimoto Asahi peered out from behind her glasses and poked out her tongue nonchalantly. Regardless of how many compliments it got...To her, it was simply a last minute thing she did, after watching a popular girl group video and got so enchanted by the aquarium in the opening scene. It...didn't feel original, just something she copied. Within a few seconds, the blond leaned on that same girl, and began to rest her head on her friend's arm.

"Mii-chan~," Asahi whined. "I don't want to go to Art Club~. Save meeeeee~."

"Ha?! I'm not going to save you from that creepy president again," her friend, Satomi, shivered, recalling his attempts to flirt with her.

She soon noticed a suspicious _smirk_ forming on Asahi's face, forming backing away from her and trying run off, avoiding her 'loving' attempts to convince her ditch, causing the blond to run off after her.

The second years let out a sigh after seeing those two running down the hallways. After Asahi had transferred here, she was sitting next to ever-so blunt Satomi, but they were attached to each other since then. The little chase had gotten them to the rooftop, where the dark-haired second year rushed through the door, with no signs of her blond friend behind her.

Looking around, the teen spotted four boys sitting there, casually talking with each other, and eating their lunches. One of them she recognized on the spot, as a huge Cheshire smile formed on her face. It was her former track teammate and current classmate, Ryugazaki Rei, who had quitted during their first year to join the Swim Club.

"Ah! Rei-kun! Lemme hide here!" Satomi demanded.

"H-Huh? Ni-Nishikido-san!" the blue-haired male stuttered, watching the raven-haired girl, quickly curling up between him and his dark-haired upperclassman.

Her brown eyes kept looking at the door intently, causing the other members of the Swim Club to look at her questionably. She was nervous, looking like just any sort of thing can scare her at any second.

"Sheesh. Is Okimoto-san chasing after you again?" Rei questioned, quirking an eyebrow to his former track club teammate.

"She wants me to ditch practice just so she can skip Art Club," Satomi retorted, pressing her back against the wall. "Sera-senpai is being strict with attendance this time around, you know?"

"You two looked like you get along really well, since she transferred here!" their blond-haired classmate remarked with a smile.

"Oh, please, Nagisa-kun. My own boyfriend thinks we're like kid sisters. He thinks it's cute, since we call each other '_Mii-chan_' and '_Hii-chan_'," the girl noted sarcastically, poking out her tongue.

An exhausted Asahi wandered in, scanning the area while trying to catch her breath. She pulled off her glasses and let out a sigh, pushing back her sideswept bangs. Satomi looked at them, giving the four boys a dark look to distract her friend so she could make an escape. An imaginary light bulb formed over Nagisa's head. He quickly pulled the taller brunette with him towards the girl, giving a sign to Satomi for her to leave, as slowly inched towards the stairwell doorway, trying to avoid her friend.

"Asahi-chan!" Nagisa hollered.

"Eh?" the girl blinked, looking at the two.

"Mako-chan here said he thinks you're cute, and wants to ask you out on a date!" Nagisa said brightly.

"Na-Nagisa?!" "Eh? '_Mako-chan_'...?"

Asahi looked at the towering male before her, inspecting him thoughtfully from head-to-toe. Tachibana Makoto, the Iwatobi Swim Team's captain. Brown hair, green eyes...Yet, compared to his height, she felt extremely awkward being around him, than impressed. With him being a towering 183 cm and her being a mere 157 cm, the difference was a bit much. He was smiling at her nervously, making her quirk her head at her fellow second year, thoughtfully.

"You're being weird, Hazuki-san. He looks like the type who can attract a lot of girls!" Asahi laughed. "Besides! I'm not interested in dating anyone until after high school~," she said proudly, with a cocky grin on her face.

"Eh~ You don't think he's _cute_, Asahi-chan?" Nagisa questioned, nudging her, before pointing her body towards his other two friends. "What about Haru-chan?"

"Haru-chan...?" she questioned, glancing at the poker-faced male, who looked away from her with a pouty look on his handsome face.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Satomi barely reaching the stairwell door, making the girl shout out her name. Asahi quickly made a dash after her, making her friend rush down the stairs. The four of them stared at the opened door long after the two of them had gone away.

"Well...they were interesting," Makoto said with a confused smile, as he slowly walked back to his place in their little circle. "Right, Haru?"

Gazing at his friend, the brunette noticed his childhood friend muttered a 'Yeah', underneath his breath, before eating his mackerel and rice lunch once more.

* * *

><p><em>Why is this happening?<em>

_I remember.._

_When it is summer, it's about you..._

"...Good job today!"

The four members of the Swim Team had just finished their practice in the Iwatobi Swimming Club. They had just finished changing, and waved 'Bye' to the owner, Sasebe Goro, who had let them practice in the indoor pool. The sun was slowly setting, and they were about to part ways from each other to go home.

"I'll see you tomorrow~!" Nagisa chirped, waving his hand up in the air, while walking in the same direction with Rei to the train station.

While Makoto had waved to his underclassmen, Haruka was looking at something in particular while they were walking home. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of a crying Satomi, while Asahi was comforting her and a young man was standing away from them, holding his red cheek. From what Satomi had said earlier...they were going to assume that this young man was Satomi's boyfriend.

"_YOU IDIOT!_" Asahi barked, glaring at the other teen. "Why'd you do have to that to her?!" she shouted.

They had to walk into this situation.

"Hii-chan..." the dark-haired girl muttered.

Tears formed in Asahi's eyes as her hand slowly formed into a fist. She wanted to hurt this guy so much for hurting Satomi.

"_...Wait for me._"

Slowly walking towards him, the blond was about to hit him, only to feel a strong hand gripping her wrist. Her amber eyes were filled with tears, and Asahi forced herself to look up at the swimmer who stopped her. She stared at Haruka's eyes, his face didn't bother changing in front of her. Why...did he stop her? He could've...just let her... Haruka quickly dropped her hand, glancing over to see Makoto approaching the three of them.

"...You shouldn't have done that, Senpai," the blond muttered. "That guy...had the nerve to hurt Mii-chan,"

"...She was going to hang out with you so I thought-"

"Then what is she to you then?" Asahi barked. "Why were you so close to this 'Nao-chan' then?! Why did she call you, 'Kazu-kun~' in such a way?"

Her heart was beginning to hurt. Why did this scenario look familiar to her? She never experienced such a thing before. Satomi looked like she was about to step in to stop her. This was hurting her only friend than it was hurting him instead.

"Never mind," she muttered childishly. "...I'm going home,"

"Asa-" Satomi called out, watching her friend walk away from her.

"A-Ah! We'll walk her home instead!" Makoto spoke up with a smile looking at the concerned girl. "R-Right, Haru?"

Haruka stared at the lonesome Asahi thoughtfully. She had pulled off her glasses, had her music playing in her ears, and already was at a far away distance.

"She'll be fine," the swimmer said, while his best friend continued to watch her.

It was going to be a long walk home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I apologize if these chapters will feel vague and confusing. They'll clear up over time.

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

><p>熱帯魚の涙 <strong><em> Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
>Chapter Two<em>**

* * *

><p>"...<em>I'm sorry...I'm...probably not going to school today again,<em>"

Satomi let out a sigh, as she was walking home from school after finishing practice. It was a week ever since that little incident with her and her boyfriend had happened. Although it only had taken some proper talking to get things sorted out, Satomi was more concerned about what had happened to Asahi after what had happened. Sure, her and Kazuya had gotten into bitter spats, and Asahi would just speak up, but this was the first time she actually had gotten _violent_ with him.

She had forgotten where her actual house _was_ however, only being there once. The obvious choice would have been to simply ask Asahi herself, but she hasn't been answering her phone for the past twenty minutes.

"Ah! Satomi-chan!" Nagisa called out to her, approaching her.

"Oh, Nagisa-kun," she smiled, bowing to him, and lightly waving to the other members of the Swim Club, who was with him. "Eh? Are you guys going home from practice?" she questioned.

"We're heading to Haru-chan's house!" the blond teen chirped.

"W-We were?" Rei questioned staring at his classmate. "I thought we wer-"

"_Play along,_" he whispered.

Raising an eyebrow at the two, Satomi simply smiled at them. "Ah,I'm heading over to Hii-chan's place...You know...since she hasn't been in school for a week," she nodded.

"Did she get sick, or something?" Makoto questioned, looking at her with some concern in his eyes.

"S-Sort of..." she stuttered looking away. "She didn't look too good after what had happened last week, so... Yeah,"

It was a bad feeling that she had. Satomi was hoping that it was simply her being _sick_ and nothing drastic had happened to her.

"Ah! Satomi-neechan!" a young boy called out to her. "Why are you around here? I thought your house was the other way,"

"Taiyou-kun!" she said.

Golden eyes batted at the sight of the Swim Club as he clung onto the girl tightly with an uneasy look on his face. He was thinking they were some shady bunch of boys that she was hanging out with.

"Geh. Is one of these guys, your boyfriend?" he questioned.

"Bzzt! One of the boys behind me is your Oneechan's boyfriend! Satomi-chan wanted to bring him to see her, but she got lost!" Nagisa chimed in with a cheerful smile, as the other members of the Swim Club stared at him with a shocked and confused look on their faces.

The elementary school kid blinked several times, as he gave them a death glare.

"Ahaha! _No seriously, I'm worried about her, just ignore him..._" Satomi whispered, pushing the boy to lead the way, as Nagisa looked at the others to follow as well.

..._Eh?_

Asahi wasn't in her room when they had arrived. Satomi looked around, only to see a painting she never saw before sitting out in the balcony: a painting of the deep sea...with absolutely nothing in it. It looked dark and empty, without any signs of life in there, with the 'surface' in the very corner of the canvas. Of course, Satomi had never understood Asahi's personal art, other than it '_expressed_' how she felt at the moment...Or that's how the Art Club had explained it.

Taiyou had excused himself after his grandmother had called him, while everyone else either sat down or snooped around her room, without trying to pry into anything too much.

"Oh? A wedding invitation!" Nagisa spoke up.

On her desk was a fancy card, and in fancy lettering it says '_Akihiro and Sayomi request the honor of your presence at their marriage... _'. Quirking an eyebrow, Satomi looked at the picture of the couple, thoughtfully, before realizing the invite was sent from Tokyo.

* * *

><p>"...You're here again? This is the third time, this week, Asahi-chan!"<p>

Sitting on the bed, eyes staring at a glass tank filled with jellyfish, was Asahi. She had a facemask on, along with some plain sweats and a t-shirt. All she was doing was gazing at the jellyfish floating in the large tank with a calm look on her face. Behind her was an older man with scruffy brown hair, and gray eyes, who leaned on the doorframe with a questionable look on his face.

"Y'know...Grandma isn't going to like it when you're out of bed like that," he remarked. "...Did something happen?"

Looking at him thoughtfully, Asahi simply shrugged.

"...Why...? Does it _look_ like something happened?" she questioned sarcastically, with a tiny huff.

"From what I remembered... My brother always told me that you always called your '_beloved uncle_' when he and his wife scolded you, or you'd sneak off to the aquarium, just so you could see the '_pretty fishes_', whenever you felt sad," her uncle remarked with a grin.

"...But they're so calming, I can't help it," she grumbled.

"Anyways, be happy I had to take care of the jellyfishes for work today. You adore those, don't you?" he questioned. "I'll be heading back to work soon, so tell Suzu when you're leaving,"

The blond casually saluted to him as her uncle left, and plopped down onto the bed, staring at the jellyfishes with a dreamy look on her face. She pulled out her cell phone and checked it. Other than some missed calls from Satomi, she was looking for any other new messages. _Nothing_.

Her eyes stared at the tank once more, before taking a picture of it and sending an e-mail.

_'Do you remember?'_

* * *

><p>"...Why are you guys here?"<p>

Asahi stared at the people snooping around her room, as she slowly pulled down her face mask and politely nodded to them. Her younger brother had slowly in behind her, balancing the tray of Oolong tea and snacks that their grandmother had prepared for them.

"Taiyou! You didn't need to do that!" the older Okimura child scolded. "I could've done that!"

"Eh~ I wanna confirm which one of these guys is Neechan's boyfriend," he retorted sarcastically, looking at the Swim Team thoughtfully. "Ah, Neechan, you have '_good_' tast-"

Covering his mouth, Asahi looked away, her face quickly turning bright red. "They're tagging along with Mii-chan, now stop it," she grumbled.

"Ah! You're blushing, Neechan!" the boy laughed, prying his sister's hand off of his mouth, before looking over to Haruka. "He's cool! Maybe him? Or this super tall Oniichan with the brown hair!"

Before she said anything else, Asahi had heard her cell phone ringing in her pocket. She quickly excused herself, and had walked out into the balcony to answer it. As soon as she left the room, however, her younger brother simply furrowed his eyebrows, and a slightly annoyed look formed on his face.

"You know, this whole time she was '_sick_', Neechan was attached to her phone, even while we were eating dinner," he muttered.

Satomi blinked at Taiyou's little remark, before kneeling down at his level. "...Taiyou-kun...Do you know anyone is getting married anytime soon?" she questioned.

"Hah?!" he quirked an eyebrow.

"You know! Has she been so worried about becoming pretty for going to that shindig, like getting a dress or-"

Furrowing his eyebrows at Nagisa, Taiyou quirked his head at him. "Neechan...usually does those things at the last minute," he said. "She wasn't like this last year, she was always wearing makeup and wore stylish clothing, since she was trying to impress someone though,"

As Nagisa and Satomi kept interrogating the boy, with Makoto and Rei trying to pry them away from him, Haruka had slowly stepped out into the balcony where Asahi was at. She had just hung up from the call, and had a worried look on her face. She rested her head on the railing and closed her eyes.

"Did something happen?" Haruka said nonchalantly.

Asahi stopped in her place, and looked up at the swimmer with a surprised look on her face. He was last person she had expected to come out and talk to her... She didn't know what to say to him. Her face began to heat up at the sight of him, and a smile formed on her face.

"A-Ahaha!" she laughed nervously, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Nothing! It's absolutely nothing! I will be a-okay!" she lied, keeping a bright smile on her face, placing down her phone on the wooden railing.

Asahi only had met him a week ago...So what was he to her? He was an absolute stranger to her. A _stranger._ She quickly came to the realization she looked dumb after her not-so-obvious lie and dumb laughing was fake. Her heart was hurting a lot right now after what had happened. She couldn't breathe. She _needed_ to be alone right now. She...didn't feel right saying anything in front of him.

"S-Sorry... I'll be right back," Asahi nodded, quickly turning away from the clueless Haruka and headed back inside, leaving her phone out in the open.

Staring at the lone smart phone, Haruka realized that the screen was still lit up with the new messages from a person nicknamed ' _Dawn_ ' . On the lock screen, it had a dark-haired Asahi with another girl doing a weird face. Messages kept popping up on the screen by the same person, and Haruka couldn't help, but to pick up her cell phone to look at it.

'_I'll call back when I'm not busy._'

'..._You're not crying, are you?_'

'..._It wasn't my fault!_'

What...exactly _happened_? Haruka quickly walked back inside, only to see his friends looked at him questionably.

"...Where did Asahi go...?" he questioned furrowing his eyebrows.

"Eh? She said she had to do something for her grandma...But-"

Walking out the door, there was faint sniffing coming from down the hall. Before Haruka had walked down the hallway, his eyes stared at the figure sliding the door open.

"_...Are you alright?_" a voice questioned.

"_Makoto...senpai...?_" Asahi whispered.

Slowly heading down the hallway, Haruka peeked inside the tatami mat room. Asahi was sitting in front of a large tank filled with colorful fishes, while kneeling in front of her was Makoto, smiling at her. She had tears in her eyes, as he gently patted her head. She reluctantly looked away from him with a childish look on her face.

"I'll...I'll be fine!" she said with that same 'smile' on her face. "I like this time alone...Especially looking at the fishes..." she pouted looking away from him.

A sigh escaped Makoto's lips, as he gently tusled her hair. "...You're going to sound like Haru, if you keep acting stubborn like that," he replied.

"_Haha. You're very stubborn, aren't you, Asahi-chan?_"

Asahi froze in her spot and gently touched Makoto's hand that was in her hair. Her blood turned cold just as she looked at up at the swimmer. Their eyes were the same. Those _kind, emerald green_ eyes. She took his hand and held it lightly...His hand...didn't feel the same. They weren't the same _person_...She was thinking too much over this.

Slumping over, the blond let out a sigh. She looked at him thoughtfully and released his hand.

"I'm sorry...I'm just...having a horrible week..." Asahi muttered, pushing back her hair.

"N-No, it's fine," he smiled sheepishly at her.

A grin formed on her face as she lightly nudged him. "Though, you're a good person, Senpai," she laughed. "You're going to make a very lucky person, pretty happy someday," she nodded.

"E-Eh?" he stuttered.

"They'll be happy to have someone as caring and responsible like you," she replied giving him a thumbs up, as she got up.

When she tried to walk out the door, she saw Haruka blocking the door. She froze and looked at him oddly. She only gave him a smile, and tried to move past him, and into the hallway, she felt his hand on her shoulder. Something felt off. Her eyes looked at him, only to see her phone in his possession, with the messages popping up on the lock screen.

"...Who's '_Dawn_'?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

><p><em>熱帯魚の涙 <strong><em> Nettaigyo no Namida / __Tears of the Tropical Fish  
>Chapter Three<em>**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Who's 'Dawn'?<em>"

Staring at Haruka, Asahi bit her lip, as she quickly tried to grab her phone from him. He quickly raised the phone in the air, and the difference in height made it obvious that she was a tad bit _too_ short to grab it from him. She let out a sigh, and only glared him.

"...Isn't it obvious?...It's that time of day before the sun rises..." she remarked sarcastically.

Makoto stared at her blankly, before her phone rang. It was the same person. Asahi quickly tried to grab her phone from Haruka, only to see the _'Answer'_ button being pushed on the touch screen. Her face quickly turned dark at the sight at the speaker button being activated, much to the other two's confusion.

"_OH. IF I CALL YOU FROM THIS NUMBER, YOU DO ANSWER! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, ASAHI, AND I WILL HURT YOU FOR IT, YOU DUMB BIT-_"

Haruka had quickly hung up before anything else had been said. It was a female voice who was on the other line. She sounded angry and obviously had a huge grudge against the teen... Asahi stared at the swimmers, her face no longer having that smile. She pulled off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. Where was she going to start with this one...? It was difficult to explain this without making this so complicated, and she couldn't weasel her way out of this one.

The blond bit her lip before looking at them with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know my name has the kanji meaning '_Morning Sun_' right?...'_Dawn_'...is someone who has the kanji of '_Dawn_' or '_Daybreak_' in their name...They're a...very good '_friend_' of mine, " Asahi explain with a tiny nod. "If it isn't so obvious, '_Dawn_' isn't that girl, just someone connected to her,"

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Footsteps were approaching them. Closing her eyes, Asahi smiled to them, as she held out her hand, looking at Haruka giving a look to give her phone back before that girl had called again. He glared at her, and reluctantly placing her phone back into her hand. The door slid open to see Taiyou out of breath, looking at his sister with a worried look on his face.

"Oneechan! What were you doing?" he said, with a huff. "Especially since you were alone with..._those two_..." he glared, childishly.

Makoto walked over and smiled at the boy and patted his head. "Your Oneechan needed some help with something, don't worry," he said.

"I'm fine Taiyou," Asahi smiled. "You still didn't do your homework right? You can ask Rei-kun to help you with it. He's super smart after all! A lot better than this dumb sister of yours!" she said with a huge grin on her face.

Taiyou's bright eyes slowly widened at his sister's remark, as he quickly rushed out of the room to get his homework. The pair stared at Asahi, who gave them a catty smile and a peace sign in return.

"...Is it okay to say things like that?" Makoto sighed. "You shouldn't put yourself down like that,"

"Taiyou has his reasons. I've done stupid things in the past, and I've been called '_stupid_' for it...He wants to protect his only sister. Though, I know when to draw the line," she said bluntly, motioning them to follow her back to the others.

"...I just don't want him to see me crying over _**a guy **_again,"

* * *

><p>Summer had begun.<p>

"_Drownin' away from the start to the end_  
><em>And you're sailing away and nowhere else to strain...<br>__Come and take my all away  
><em>_So far away from the start to the end  
><em>_And everything seems so veiled and blue  
><em>_Run away, sail away..._"

Asahi leaned on the wall and stared at her sketchbook. It was the same thing. Again and again. Ever since that day, it was difficult to come up with something new. What was wrong with her? Every time she presented something to the Art Club...They would point out something was _off_ with it, compared to when she had first transferred here.

"_Dumb president_," she huffed, pressing the '_Next_' arrow on her mp3 player, and getting out of her desk.

It was no use trying to get stuck, Asahi knew she was better off finding a place to get inspiration somehow...Although, her uncle wouldn't approve of her sticking around the aquarium all day, and being near the pier would cause trouble to the fishermen. She needed a new place to go look at.

"Oh! Okimoto-san!" a female voice called out to her.

The blond looked back, and she froze to see a smiling brunette holding a stack of notebooks. It was her classic literature teacher. Shoot. She didn't want to do any favors for her at the moment... Especially since she had gotten in trouble with her the other day.

"A-Amakata-sensei!" she replied, faking a smile.

"Glad that you're still here," the brunette chirped. "I need to go advise the Swim Team today, so could you please bring this to the reference room? I know Kawashima-sensei is still in there," she nodded.

"Ha..." Asahi groaned, as she took the stack from her.

Watching the sensei lightly pat the stack of notebooks, and waving goodbye at her, Asahi bowed at her before heading to the reference room. She should've simply darted away and just let that woman go by hers- Wait. _Swim Team_. Asahi could simply watch those guys swi-

"What am I, some lewd pervert?" she whined to herself as she continued down the hallway. '_Like hell I'm going to watch those half-naked guys and get inspiration from that!_'

* * *

><p>She was going to slap herself for doing this. She could just do this tomorrow, but...<p>

"_Ah! Okimoto-san, can you tell Amakata-sensei that she needs to get these sometime today or tomorrow? I know it's a pain to have you run back and forth, but she's so busy these days,_"

It was weird going up to the pool here. She never explored this part of school, even with Satomi. Going up the steps, Asahi looked at the sun still high up in the sky. There, she saw Amakata-sensei holding a parasol, a red-headed girl holding a clipboard, and all she could hear was the sounds of the water. By the looks of things, they were swimming laps.

"U-Uhm. Amakata-sensei?" Asahi spoke up.

"Oh, it's Okimoto-san," she smiled.

"Okimoto-san...?" the red-headed girl questioned, looking at her thoughtfully. "Ah! Asahi-chan!"

Asahi blinked a few times, before she politely bowed at her fellow second year, Matsuoka Gou. She only said hi to her a few times, but mainly Satomi knew her and her friend, Chigusa. They've hung out a few times on occasion, but she never knew that she was the manager of the Swim Team until now. Well, she felt behind on the times.

"Eh, you're the manager, Gou-chan...?" the blond questioned, blinking a few times.

"Y-Yes," she nodded.

"AH! Asahi-chan!" Nagisa called out, popping his head out from the pool, his eyes were covered with the colored swimming goggles. "What are you doing here?" he questioned, getting out of the pool.

Yup. She was here at a bad time. The girl froze, trying to not look at the half-naked swimmer, as she quickly looked over at Amakata-sensei.

"S-Sensei! K-Kawashima-sensei wanted me to tell you to pick up something at the r-reference room before you l-leave today!" the teen stuttered.

"Of course. I guess, I'll do it right now," the older woman nodded, as she got up to head back into the main building. "Thank you,"

Asahi quietly smiled at the teacher, and waved to Gou. She had to get out of there. Sure, she was fine talking to the Swim Team...when they were fully dressed. Half-naked guys when they were wet...it was impossible for her. She was going to turn into a blushing mess. She never got close to anything like that...except for _that guy_, but that was a while back, and that didn't turn out so pretty.

She felt awkward with them now... She took a few steps back to go back into the main building, before a hand grabbed her wrist, and the blond was dragged back to the poolside. Yup. She should've just ran.

"I-It's okay! I...I don't really belong here!" she whined.

"Eh? You know it's fine to hang out here, we were just finishing u-"

"You're not finished, Nagisa-kun!" Gou scolded, pointing to the other members of the Swim Team who were still swimming laps. "B-But, it's fine to hang out here, Asahi-chan," she nodded, looking at the girl with a sheepish smile on her face.

Watching the other boys swim, Asahi got close to the pool, and stared at the pool with an absent look on her face. She felt like she was at an open-air water show, except replace the sea creatures with these guys. Could she get anything out of this? _Probabl-_

"Heads up!" Nagisa called out as he finished his 'breather'.

Gou quickly backed away from the pool, shielding her eyes, while Nagisa dove back in making a huge splash, leaving the dazed blond soaked from head to toe. She pushed back her wet hair, and let out a huge sigh, only to see a blushing Rei scolding Nagisa, while Haruka tried his best to not look at her...Was something the matter?

Makoto quickly emerged from the pool, and held her hand, leading her back to the changing room.

"H-Hey! I-It's not that bad!" Asahi protested.

The taller brunette had pulled an extra towel out, handing it to her, trying to not look at her. His face was bright red, and he didn't want to say anything to her. Near by them was a mirror, and the blond slowly approached it, while drying her hair. Her soaked white shirt became transparent...They saw that hint of light blue that was underneath it...

Asahi covered her face with the towel, before slowly kneeling down, feeling her face turning hot. This was terrible. On her shoulders, she felt something covering her, a large white sports jacket. She assumed it was Makoto's.

"I...I didn't look. I promise," Makoto stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't want people staring at you looking like this when you leave school," he said softly, finally looking at her.

A tiny bashful smile formed on her face, and she watched him mirror that smile in front of her. She quickly covered her face with the towel, and gently smacked his arm. Why was it different compared to the other day? She didn't feel _this_ shy with Makoto compared to back when she saw him back at her house. Was it because he was simply _kind_ to her?

Her amber-colored eyes looked at him straight in the eye and a shy, stubborn look formed on her face.

"You said you wouldn't look, you liar,"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

* * *

><p><em>熱帯魚の涙<em>**_ / Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish_**

**_Chapter Four_**

* * *

><p><em>'Dawn' once told me...<em>  
><em>"Scents can easily make you remember any sort of memories," <em>  
><em>Makoto-senpai had a distinct scent that stuck on me long after I took off that jacket. <em>  
><em>It reminded me of that day, whenever I got close to him.<em>

"My future career path...?"

Asahi stared at the piece of paper in front of her before letting out a sigh. She had to turn this thing in to her homeroom teacher before the end of this week... She...really didn't want to fill this out. It was after school, and Asahi was alone for today. Pulling out her phone, she began to go to her contacts section. Her hand slowly went to Dawn's contact name, wanting to call them for advice, only to remember the female voice from the other line who had cursed her out the other. Instead, she began to fill out the paper, writing down what had came into mind.

"Asahi-chan! Are you going to an Art School for college?" one of her classmates spoke up, as he turned around from his chair.

It was someone from the Art Club.

"...A-Ah..." she looked up from her paper, hiding it from him.

"The President was hoping you were," he said, rocking his chair back and forth, trying to sneak a peek. "Even with that dumb 'artist block' of yours, he still thinks you can be the Club President next year," he remarked.

_How annoying._

"O-Oh, really?...Hm, _maybe_~," the girl muttered, with a playful smile.

"Great," he grinned at her. "He'll be happy to hear about it,"

_I need to scream._

Getting up, Asahi picked up the piece of paper, and wandered outside. She said she was going to think about this a bit more outside of the classroom...But instead she needed to vent out her feelings somewhere quiet. In reality, she knew what she wanted, but... Was people really going to expect her to continue this whole thing forever?

Passing by the teacher's room, Asahi couldn't hear the door opening. Someone had quickly stepped out, bumping into her. Papers flew into the air, as the blond saw something flying into her face. A career path paper, which was mostly blank with very little writing. On it, she could only see the '_Other_' section being filled out as '_Free_', while it slowly floated down to the floor.

"Eh?" Asahi blinked.

"Are you alright?" the familiar voice sighed.

"Yeah, I'm- _Eh_?!" she squealed as the blond quickly got to her feet.

It was Haruka. Her mouth slowly opened to say something to him, only to watch the other teen quickly grab his paper and walk off. She...wanted to know why he wrote that. But it felt strange to pry into something as personal as that. No one else was here. She didn't want to be scolded by a teacher. After picking up her paper, Asahi slowly began to run after hi-

"Tch-" the girl winced.

_Ignore the pain._

The artist chewed on her lip, keeping that thought in her head. Instead, her eyes began to look around, wondering where did the swimmer actually go off to, knowing that he was probably meeting up with Makoto. Were they in the third year section? Or were they going to the pool?

_I...still need to give back his jacket..._ the blond thought to herself.

Yet, she had to attend Art Club after they had a brief 'hiatus' after the upperclassmen had some work to do for an upcoming contest. She could try to meet him...Somehow. Maybe.

* * *

><p>"Eh...Maybe I have to wait until tomorrow?"<p>

Running towards the sports club rooms, Asahi held a bag close to her. She was approaching the room labelled, 'Swim Club' and heard faint voices coming from it. A smile formed on her face, knowing she had a chance. Alright. She can make it! She really can make it! She can-

_Thud._

The door quickly flew open, right into the blond's face. Her face began to sting. Her body slowly fell backwards, as everything slowly turned dark.

"_Ah! Asahi-chan!_" "_Eh?! That was Asahi-chan?_" "_Was she running here?_"

..._Asahi._

A voice called out to her.

Her eyes slowly opened...to see a pair of _green eyes _looking over her. Closing it once more, Asahi let herself rest. She felt sore. What was it? This scenario felt familiar to her. That warm, gentle touch on her forehead. If she opened her eyes...would it be the same thing?

_Asahi... Come on, get up, Sunshine. You need to get up._

Her eyes slowly opened once more to the sight of black hair... Green eyes... Black hair... Those two together... Meant that..._Nah. Couldn't be_.

Turning over, the blond opened her eyes. Everything felt blurry without her glasses. Asahi's eyes stared up at the figured staring at the tank, while sitting on the bed. She knew was in her uncle's house, that was for sure. However, the sight felt nostalgic for her. She didn't see his eyes, but a tiny reminiscent smile formed on her face.

"..._Aki..._" she said softly.

"...Aki?" he echoed, looking down at her questionably.

Her eyes noticed the blue hues looking at her, slowly realizing it was Haruka sitting next to her. She froze up for a moment, before quickly sitting up, covering her mouth and quickly bowing in front of him as a way to apologize to him.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she shouted.

The swimmer quickly turned away and stared at the tank. She didn't know how long he was sitting here...Or even how long she was 'asleep' for. She couldn't question him about it. Instead, she looked at the tank with him, staring at the jellyfishes with a smile on her face.

"My uncle works at the aquarium in the city. That's why he has these," Asahi said softly."There's so peaceful to look at right?"

"...Yeah,"

"...I always come here whenever something is wrong," she smiled. "Then again, I always _adored_ jellyfishes..especially the golden jellyfishes. They don't have them around here, however. They're isolated in their own lake in a country called 'Palau', but people can swim with them. I wanna go just to swim with them, but..."

Haruka looked Asahi's dreamy expression over talking about the jellyfishes slowly turning dark. He gently touched her shoulder as she quickly looked at him with a forced smile on her face.

"I _can't_." she paused. "Though, Senpai, you can do it in my stead, right? _Right_?" the blond said, trying to cheer herself up.

"...Sure," he replied, nonchalantly. "But...Don't you know how to swim? We'll swim together and..."

Her eyes batted at his reply and her lips pulled up into a tiny smile. Asahi was only joking about it, not knowing he would actually respond or even take up on her little offer. It made her...happy. _Really _happy. Then again, when she thinks about it now, it reminded her too much about...

_Sure! We'll swim together and..._

They had different personalities. Completely different faces...and she was in a completely place. It wasn't right. She didn't want to compare them. It was _irritating _her until no end.

"N-No! I-It's okay!" Asahi shouted. "I'll be fine! I will be ab-so-lutely fine!"

...It was clear she was lying. Her face had shown she was more than just troubled. Though, her shouting had caused some footsteps coming into the room. There stood Makoto who looked at the pair. They weren't looking at each other, while Makoto approached his best friend, asking what had just happened.

* * *

><p><em>"Gyahaha. You really made her mad? She's a 'fish' too, being born on April 5th, y'know? "<em>

As Haruka and Makoto walked home, they were silent. The brunette looked at his best friend thoughtfully wondering what had happened with him and Asahi. Haruka had seen what she wrote on her future career path paper and was wondering if _that_ was the reason she said 'No' to his offer. It was a nice offer, plus it was involving the water. It was..._interesting_.

"...ru...Haru? Something wrong?" Makoto asked looking over at him.

"She was being weird." Haruka replied.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the swimming gave a confused smile at his best friend, wondering about what he was talking about.

"Weird? How?" he asked.

"...She called me '_Aki_' earlier,"

That name rung a bell...But _where_? Looking up at the orange sky, Makoto thought to himself for a bit before slowing down to a stop. He remembered what Asahi had said before.

" _**'****Dawn' **__is someone who has the kanji of '__**Dawn' **__or __**'Daybreak' **__in their name...They're...a very good **'friend' **__of mine."_

It couldn't be. He thought it was a coincidence. Yeah. It's just a _coincidence_.

* * *

><p>It had begun to rain.<p>

Sitting in front of her opened balcony door, Asahi was sketching something on her notebook with a pencil. Listening to the downpour, her eyes slowly closed...As she smelled the faint scent of freshly cut grass coming from her grandmother's backyard. She could easily remember that particular day when she was with Aki. Being out in the rain, laying on the grass...Tears coming out of her eyes...Her body unable to move.

"._..Asahi? Asahi! Are you okay?!_ "

Slowly placing down her pencil, Asahi looked at her finished sketch with a thoughtful look on her face.

It was a dolphin and a porpoise swimming together in a circle, surrounding a dark-haired, faceless merman.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **_I, KawaiiTenshiCeres does not own, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club / Eternal Summer, or Nettaigyo no Namida by Flower. I only own my OCs such as Okimoto Asahi._

**Author's Note: **_This is actually a rewrite of Chapter Five, since the ending of this chapter has bothered me **too **much. _

* * *

><p><em>熱帯魚の涙<em>**_ / Nettaigyo no Namida / Tears of the Tropical Fish_**

**_Chapter Five_**

* * *

><p>"Huh,'<em>Aki<em>'?"

_**'Aki'** can be spelled out in many ways._

"No...She never told me about an '_Aki_'. Why do you ask?"

_The Season _「秋」. _The Sky_「空」. _Time_「明」. _Rejection_「厭」.

Satomi looked at her senpais thoughtfully, as she was about to head out to buy food. Her eyes blinked a few times before lightly nodding at the third years. Satomi was with her boyfriend instead of her best friend, and the blond was nowhere to be found in their classroom. There was a high chance she was in the Art Club Room, which was literally on the other side of the school.

"A-Ah...Nothing," Makoto smiled sheepishly, looking away from the suspicious second year.

"Don't tell me you're interested in Hii-chan," Satomi joked, nudging the much taller brunette.

Her eyes watched the male quickly waving his hands in front of his face, trying to deny it, causing her boyfriend to laugh at him. Satomi glanced over to his best friend, who was more silent, and looking more reluctant to even being here, before looking over at Makoto once more. Her face turned serious, slowly looking away from them with a guilty smile on her face.

"...Asahi is pretty secretive about these sorts of things. We're close, but she never said anything about her friends from back home," she noted with a nod. "She just told me some were great, others weren't, but they were like any other friends," Satomi shrugged.

"But, nothing about Aki-"

"Oh! Mako-chan, Haru-chan!" Nagisa called out to the two of them, as he approached the three of them holding a bag full of bread. "It's rare for you to be in the Second Years' section!"

This already felt awkward. Especially since Satomi didn't exactly converse with these three compared to Rei and Gou. She kept quiet for a bit while those three talked, thinking of a good way to leave.

"..._Well!_ If you want her number, I can give it to you," Satomi smiled brightly, beginning to walk away, quickly tugging on her boyfriend's hand. "Just hope she doesn't think you're creepy, okay?" she laughed, before turning away with a serious look forming on her face.

* * *

><p>"<em>T<em>_his person cannot answer their phone right now. Please..._ "

Again.

This was terrible. Pressing the red button on her smart phone, Asahi stared out past the train tracks and into the distance with a disappointed look on her face. All she wanted was a proper talk with him. Plugging the white earbud into her ear, the blond let out a long sigh. It was a weekend and she was heading into the city to go to the aquarium. She got onto the train and stood near the doors and listened to the song thoughtfully.

涙も悲しみも忘れて  
><em>Let's forget the tears and sadness<em>

歩いてこうBrighter day  
><em>And walk, brighter day<em>

君だけのStory心に  
><em>Write a story just for you<em>

つづってよNight and day  
><em>In your heart night and day<em>

_I'll be there for you, I'll be there for you_

After getting off her stop, Asahi was trying to recall what her uncle had told her where to go in the first place...Eventually, the blond had found herself looking at various stores, before noticing someone familiar coming out of a shop, holding something in their hands. Her eyes glanced up at the shop and the interior...A swimsuit specialty shop.

"Ah, Gou-san," Asahi called out.

"Oh! Asahi-chan!" the Swim Club manager smiled, slowly jogging to her with a bag in her hands.

"Is that for the Swim Club?" the blond questioned, trying to sneak a peek inside of the bag.

Raising up her bag, the red-head Matsuoka nodded to her cheerfully. Something felt off about that smile of hers. _Extremely _off. Asahi had a feeling she should just run for it before she could get herself into trouble with her.

"I'm actually working on a new diet for the club, so I bought some ingredients that might help them!" she said, her face beaming in pride. "Oh! I heard from Satomi-chan that you can make nice lunches, so if you're not busy, can...you please _help_ me...? Even if it's just for a little bit!"

Quickly clapping her hands in front of her face, Gou raised it above her head, hoping she would accept. Asahi kept looking back and forth from the bag to Gou. The blond didn't know what was _actually _in the bag, other than it was purchased in a freaking swimsuit specialty shop, and it was going to be put into a meal... She didn't get the other girl's mindset on this, other than it _might_ help them if they're going to some sort of tournament? But the only thing that came into mind was those performance-enhancing drugs that Asahi ends up hearing from tabloids.

Pushing back her locks, Asahi reluctantly nodded to Gou. She told herself not to seem so pessimistic and look on the brighter side.

"Sure. Lead the way," she said with a smile on her face.

The aquarium can wait..._Right?_

* * *

><p>She should've went to the aquarium.<p>

Peach-flavored protein, Chocolate-flavored protein... Staring at the various labelled packs, Asahi stood in the kitchen, reading the back of the packages thoughtfully, before looking over at Gou humming cheerfully while preparing the rice at the sink. She had followed the manager back to her house, but...How was this possible?! Even _she_ knew those guys were going to die if they ate this strange stuff in their food. Chewing on her lip, Asahi glanced at the redhead.

"Nee, Gou-san..."

"Hm?"

"...Are you going to fill the onigiri with only these?" she questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"Yeah. Along with flavoring the omelette with it...We can add it to the fish as well, right?" Gou nodded. "I wanted to put a lot of protein in this so they could gain a lot muscle!" she chirped with a dreamy smile on her face.

_Muscle...? With this...?_

"You need to add some carbs, Gou-san! If you just add flat out protein, they won't have enough energy to work out more! They can't gain muscle this quickly from pure protein alone!" Asahi scolded, pinching the bridge of her nose tiredly. "They need a proper balance, especially you need to add veggies and fruits in there as well!"

The blond froze in her place, while the manager batted her eyes at her. Soon, Asahi's face quickly turned red, as she quickly shook her head and looked away. She had said a bit _too _much again.

"F-Forget it," her voice softened up. "A-Anyways! Let's just get started...What do you have in mind?" Asahi began with a smile.

Gou watched her sudden change in attitude with a worried look on her face. Something was up with her. Gently touching her shoulder, the redhead looked at Asahi thoughtfully.

"...Hey, Asahi-chan...How do you know those things?" she questioned with a thoughtful look on her face. "Were you a swim-"

"...No," she quickly replied, preparing the ingredients. "...I used to do something else for a long time. Somewhat similar. I'm thinking the diets are almost the same...Probably they're a lot different. So maybe a lot protein is better," she reluctantly nodded.

Nodding with her, Gou began opening the packages as they began to prepare the test lunches. However, Asahi was deep in thought. That was close. _Very_ close. It was difficult to open up to people about touchy subjects. Maybe...Maybe it was just her.

* * *

><p>"Oh! Asahi-chan! You're back here again!"<p>

Glancing at her uncle, the blond lightly smiled at her uncle, before looking at the jellyfishes once more. Long after she had gone back from Gou's house, she had stopped by her uncle's house. That talk with Haruka the other day had gotten her thinking really long and hard about her future. Gently touching the glass with her finger, her finger began to write 海月 on it, before slowly closing her eyes.

_"Eh? Why a jellyfish?"_

_Staring at the adult dark-haired male preparing food in the kitchen, he let out a hearty laugh, while he turned and looked at the dark-haired Asahi from behind his glasses. He set down his knife and wiped down his hands on his apron, leaning against the wall with a cocky on his face. _

_"If you wrote 'jellyfish' in kanji, what does it have?"_

_Pulling a pencil from his desk, Asahi quickly scribbled something on a piece of scratch paper. The kanji form of jellyfish_,「海月」. _Her eyes stared at him blankly, not knowing what was up with his logic. He scratched the back of his head nervously before kneeling down next to her and took the pencil from Asahi's hand, writing Asahi's name in kanji on the scratch paper. _

_"...Asahi has the kanji of the sun__,_「日」. _Kurage (jellyfish), has the kanji of the moon__, _「月」. _You both are polar opposites, especially with you looking like that. Though, you're alike in a lot of ways._ _You know Ebisu? He's often paired with jellyfishes, since he was born without bones. Yet, he still smiles through all the hardships he's been through. I know bad stuff happens to you...but you still smile while you try to overcome them, don't you?" he smiled, gently ruffling her hair._

_"What are you, a philosopher?" Asahi pouted, fixing her hair. "You remind me of a dolphin,"_

_The male quirked an eyebrow at her before letting out a large laugh, causing the girl to lightly playfully push him. _

_"...Sometimes... People are more than what they look like,"_

Her phone rang, snapping Asahi out of memory lane. Looking around her belongings, the blond fished her phone from out of her handbag, and looked at the screen.

Could it be...?

Wait. She didn't recognize this number at all. It can be a practical joke, but it also could be someone who was must have dialed the wrong number. Reluctantly pressing the green button on the touchscreen to answer it, Asahi placed the phone near her ear, and took a deep breath, hoping it wasn't anything terrible.

"H...Hello?"

"_Ah...__Asahi?_" a male voice questioned.

Blinking a few times, the blond felt her face turning red. How should she respond to this...?

"...Huh...She's not answering..."

Leaning back on his chair, green eyes stared at the picture frame near his laptop. It was a group of girls in front of a school. There, stood a grinning Asahi with those girls, holding a bouquet of sunflowers while wearing a costume. His eyes stared at the photo before closing his eyes. He remembered the sound of rain, and Asahi's face staring at the gray sky with a lifeless look on her face, tears falling from her eyes, while laying on the soaked grass. Her clothes were dirty from the mud, and all she could mutter to him was...

_"You liar."_


End file.
